In the 1930s when the Three Stooges started appearing in movies, television was little more than experimental. By the late 1950s when Screen Gems sold a package of their short films to be broadcast on television, the small screen was becoming a dominant form of entertainment. Yet the Stooges didn’t get a dime from syndication. Their business deals hadn’t anticipated a disruptive new technology that allowed their work to be endlessly recycled. Then in 1960, actors joined writers and walked out on Hollywood.

“The 1960 strike was mostly over residuals for television from motion-picture packages that were being sold to television, and tangentially, of course, sitcom syndication as well,” said Thomas Doherty, a professor of American studies at Brandeis University. “This strike covered an argument over motion pictures made from 1948 to 1960, and films before 1948 were actually sold to television without any residuals for anybody because nobody had anticipated this thing called television.” The strike helped establish the modern residuals system, ensuring actors and writers are paid over time for a movie or television show.

Introducing The City Desk, a weekly newsletter about New York. Sign up to get it every Thursday.